Tag: truth

One of the joys of recovery is working with sponsees. Here’s a prayer that I offered for a sponsee who is a fellow follower of Christ, struggling with the grace of addiction:

Father Son and Spirit,

Thank you for redemption in Christ,

and thank you for your promise to sanctify and purify us.

Thank you for the unique way that you use the twelve step groups as a means to this end for so many people.

I thank you for, and pray for [name].

I thank you for his many many many gifts, talents, abilities and likeable character traits.

I pray that as a result of working steps 4 and 5, that he will be able to, with you at his side, not only be able to see more clearly the harm he has participated in that has affected others, but also the many many ways in which he has participated in your blessing towards and for others. Give him, in between the moments of painful admissions, times of deep assurance and appreciation and gratitude for the many times he has been deserving of a “well done, good and faithful servant”.

And Lord, as he embarks on a rigorous and thorough and ‘searching’ account of harm done to others, and discovers and rediscovers resentments, fears, anger, pain and a host of challenges and ‘character defects’ along the way, I want to pray that your perfect Love would cast out all fear in his search, so that it would truly be ‘fearless’. Thank you for the many times in Scripture that you tell us to “fear not.” I pray that for [name].

I pray that his account would be an outworking, with your Spirit’s help, of “confessing our faults to one another” with a view to being healed of them, and of “confessing our sins” and finding You to be faithful and just in forgiving us.

I also pray that [name] would be conscious of the armour of God as he does battle with his past.

May the belt of truth, empowered by the Spirit, lead him into all truth about his past, and the personal qualities beneath the behaviour. May the breastplate of righteousness keep him secure in who he is in Christ, as he both trusts in his firm standing with You, and works practically with you to maintain and strengthen both his sobriety and his recovery. May the gospel of Peace fit his feet with the readiness to make progress in his step work, with a wider view to bring blessing, healing, shalom, wholeness and salvation to his family, friends and anyone you lead him to. May you use the work he does here in his future work with others, Lord. When the evil one fires fiery arrows at him, no doubt using some of the memories he explores, give [name] the strength to ‘change what he can’, and hold up the shield of faith and completely disregard and extinguish those accusations, not trying to ‘change’ what he cannot – the past. May the helmet of salvation keep his mind focused on you, who is both the Judge and Defender in the courtroom of your healing Justice. May truth set him free, Lord! May the sword of the Spirit search and cut and pierce where it needs to, down to soul and spirit, as he goes deep beyond the behaviour (without skipping over it too quickly) and seeks out the insecurities, arrogances, and more that lie beneath. May he find, in the ample and sufficient resources of your Word, the gems of truth that give him language to confess what he finds, and to grasp on to the forgiveness that is his in You.

The familiar words of Jesus promise that “the truth shall set you free.” We addicts know a thing or two about this principle. Having hidden the truth from others (and ourselves), we are amazed by the freedom that comes when it is finally disclosed in the right way, to the right people.

I suppose martyrs also know a thing or two about it as well. We addicts may think that our truth-telling had a cost to it, as we risked job, marriages, friendships and the like. But martyrs have not only risked, but suffered, the loss of their very earthly lives.

This perspective helps me stay honest with my spouse. I really hope I do not ever have a relapse. But I know that honesty is the only way from here out. Marriage or no marriage, admitting the truth is the only way to live in freedom, and avoid the slavery of hiding.

The honesty of authentic confession is one of the most important components of quality recovery. We all know we need to – eventually – tell ourselves, another person and God the whole truth about ourselves, as step 5 states. We all know our secrets keep us sick. So how is it that confession at times can be selfish?

On the one hand, confessions are selfish when they are not fully honest. I know this first hand. I told myself that I was trying to ‘protect’ my spouse from the worst things that would ‘harm’ them; but more truthfully, I was protecting myself. Yes, the act of revealing what I’d really been up to would (finally) bring my spouse into contact with the pain from the harm I’d done over the years. But also, the act of disclosing everything, and seeing and feeling the real and painful effect it had, would bring me into contact with the reality of what I’d been doing. So by not disclosing, by not truly confessing, I was protecting myself from the healing I needed. One is reminded, of course, of James 5:16; “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.”

This dishonesty is one way that confession is selfish due to caring more about ourselves than others. On the other hand, our confessions can be honest but still selfish. It is possible to be honest but inconsiderate. When we reveal too much information, or reveal information in the wrong manner, or at the wrong time, it is often the result of not considering the effect the information will have on the other person. Too often, we can confess with the motivation that we just want to feel good. This is particularly the case with public confessions. These kinds of selfish confessions are not only inconsiderate of how others feel, but actually can distance us from the help we actually need. We are capable of ‘engineering’ the confessional encounter so as to maximize the sympathy and attention we get, whilst minimizing the accountability and loving challenge we really need. Our addictive desires are thus only reinforced, and rather than being closer to anyone, we feel all the more alone.

Confession is self-less when it is risky. We let go of control of the confessional situation, and we trust the other person (and the Other One watching over us!) to handle the truth. And maybe, just maybe, we learn to finally encounter that truth ourselves as well.